


Saved by a call (and a kiss)

by Anonymous



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Jongho centric kinda, Jongho is kind of sort of dramatic i guess??? Lmao, M/M, Minor Violence, seongjoong is really here for like a second, sorry the rest of the boys couldnt make it njdknj, this is just me projecting a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:03:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Jongho was living a quiet life. He had a shitty job, a shitty boss and inhabited a small apartment.It was better than his life back when he was a kid, back when he had to follow his mom's boyfriend's rules.Enter Song Mingi, considered to be the dumbest of the bunch.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Song Mingi, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 11
Kudos: 72
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello.
> 
> Honestly, I dont know what is this. Not too much plot and this is SHORT lmao
> 
> I sat in front of my laptop for six hours and wrote a bunch of stuff. I don't know if this was the right thing to post out of all that I wrote but anyways, we need more jongho centric stuff.
> 
> Enjoy, I guess and remember to take care of yourself.
> 
> Also the summary SUCKS why am I like this.

Jongho woke up to the sun shining on his face.

It wasn’t an uncommon thing to happen. He doesn’t even remember thinking of closing the curtains the night before.

Jongho sat on his bed with a sigh and stood up to start his day. A twenty minutes long shower and one breakdown over his old clothes later, he was ready to go.

He really needed to buy new clothes, as the ones his cousin had sent for him were already falling apart. Besides, all of his cousin’s jeans were too small for him. It was no one’s fault that his cousin didn’t have an ass to show off, though so Jongho had never blamed him.

Jongho blamed his own parents for making him a thick legend, but never his cousin.

Well…it would be easy for him to blame his dad if he knew him.

Mumbling the pity party song, he got into the coffee shop he worked at, trying his best to leave all of his thoughts outside. When he stepped into that coffee shop, his boss didn’t need him to pity himself, his boss needed him to be quick and efficient.

Otherwise, she would scream at him for hours. That woman was scary. No, terrifying.

“Jongho, move and do something! On god, these kids!”

“Right away, boss!”

You could say that he wasn’t succeeding on being quick and efficient that day.

-

The coffee shop closed at six, leaving the rest of the evening to himself.

And what did he do if he didn’t want to go to his small, boring apartment?

He visited dogs at the shelter. They always let Jongho play with all the dogs he wanted and he would pet some cats, too. If they were in the mood to be petted, of course. He learnt the hard way that one couldn’t just forcefully pet a cat.

There was one particular dog that he was so fond of, he was even considering adopting her. She was a mixed dog. Jongho didn’t know much about dog breeds but in the shelter, they thought she might be a chihuahua.

Her name was Rucia, which later he found out it meant ‘blonde’ in some Spanish speaking country. Despite her fur being rather brown-ish, he found that it didn’t really matter. She responded to that name, so Jongho would call her just that.

His Rucia. Jongho sighed. She was so sweet, always willing to play and have a good time. Making Jongho forget, even if it was for a couple of hours, that he hated every day with a passion.

Rucia whined pitifully when Jongho was kicked out of the shelter and Jongho told the girl working there that he would adopt Rucia someday. She tiredly reminded him that he said the same thing every day and he, with the same eyes filled with sadness, told her that he would be able to afford a bigger place someday. A place where he could raise Rucia comfortably.

“You say the same thing every day”

Jongho laughed, humorless and whispered his goodbyes, Rucia’s cries tearing his heart apart. Jongho didn’t hate his life majority of the time but, god, he did wish things were different.

He got into his tiny apartment and took a quick shower before going to bed. Every day was the same. Choi Jongho telling himself that he could power through it, just to drown in his own misery every night.

He didn’t want to be rich, didn’t want to buy a huge house, didn’t want a bunch of friends and parties every night.

Jongho wanted more than two meals a day, new clothes, one or two loyal friends and a place to raise Rucia without problems. That wasn’t much, right?

Jongho liked to think it was possible for him to have all that but then he was hit with the realization that he had bills to pay, that his shitty small apartment wasn’t for free, either. He had no money, not even to buy groceries.

Jongho laid on his back and noticed how the curtains were open, but he was already in too deep with the ‘uh, I lay around pitying myself’ thing and he didn’t have the energy to close them.

Guess he would start the next day with the damn sun on his face and he would just have to force himself to power through it yet again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you heard the song take on me? jongho would eat that shit up lmao

Jongho did feel bothered by the sun, but what made him sit on his bed fully awake was his phone’s incessant dinging.

He had gotten an email, notifying him of a transference to his back account. Someone had just put a lot ( _a lot_ ) of money in his bank account.

Jongho stared at the screen of his phone, jaw dropping to hell and eyes so wide open that they actually hurt a bit.

After a while, he still had no explanation for what had just happened and remembered he had a job to get to, so he just threw his phone into his backpack and prepared to go. He took, admittedly, longer than normal. Jongho kept thinking about who would have a reason to give him all that money.

Maybe his mom’s boyfriend was trying to apologize for being a predator? It couldn’t be. The last time Jongho had heard of his mom and her boyfriend, they were as broke as him.

Jongho got out of his apartment and jogged down the street, thanking all the entities watching over the human race for having the coffee shop only a ten minutes long jog away.

He still got yelled at by his boss.

-

After visiting Rucia and the other adorable friends (read: adorable friends being the other dogs. Cats just weren’t in the mood.) Jongho went home and drank a mug of tea. His stomach hurt and he blamed his co-worker for accidentally giving him a box of spoiled milk. Maybe he should blame himself for not noticing but, anyway, he was going to die.

Jongho didn’t have as much of a great time as other times he had visited the shelter because he felt like shit the entire evening. And that put him in the worst mood.

Who did his stomach think it was to ruin the only time of the day where Jongho felt a little bit at ease? Why was he so stupid? Why was his co-worker an asshole?

Many questions, not as many answers and the worst stomachache ever. That was all Choi Jongho had in that moment.

He laid down, not even taking his shoes off, the thought of showering not even crossing his mind. He fell asleep immediately.

And he woke up in the middle of the night, a shadow hovering over him, cold sweat dripping down his temple and dampening his hair. Now, that is what it felt to be really sick.

The hallucinations were new, though.

Jongho sat on his bed, whining when the movement made his stomach hurt even more. That’s when he felt it, all of what he had eaten during the day (which wasn’t much, but still.) go up his throat, threatening on spilling all over his sheets.

He vomited, because he had never been good at holding it in.

Jongho heard a faint surprised sound but couldn’t find it in himself to care, not when he felt like he had just died.

The next time he opened his eyes, tears were making everything blurry. Jongho saw the shadow- except that it wasn’t a shadow anymore, because the lights had been turned on and Jongho could see a man.

He had sharp features and a fit body. He was maybe a little bit taller than Jongho, was wearing all black and had sharp eyes that wouldn’t leave Jongho’s frame.

Jongho squinted and swallowed down the bile clinging to his tongue, grimacing at the disgusting smell and taste. Jesus fuck.

“Uh, hello? I don’t know if you noticed but I’m dying? So, I would appreciate it if you just left me alone. Go back to the dark corners of my brain or whatever”

The man frowned slightly “I’m not a product of your imagination, boy. I am real and you’re Park Jongin’s son.”

“Excuse my language but who the fuck is Park Jongin?”

“You look just like him, boy. Don’t try to fool me.”

Jongho frowned and forced the bile down, doing his best to stand up and face the man. Who apparently was a real person and was inside Jongho’s apartment? Jongho didn’t know that man. Why was he there?

“I’ll- I’ll call the police if you don’t leave right n-now” he whispered, his voice quivering as a result of vomiting and because he was scared shitless. His throat felt dry and harsh like sandpaper.

The man only laughed quietly and, as it turned out, he could make his murderous eyes look even more threatening. What a breathtaking ability.

No, but jokes aside, Jongho felt like he had just been kicked in the balls.

“Call the police? You can’t even stand upright” he snorted and pushed Jongho back to the bed “we already know that Park Jongin made a big transference to your bank account. We know he’s your father and you…” the man smirked and Jongho thought that he was looking at Satan himself “you are our revenge.”

Jongho had no time to answer and no time to make the slightest of moves, the man was pressing a handkerchief to his face and Jongho was quickly losing consciousness.

Who the hell was Park Jongin?

Call him whatever you like, but he had the sense that he was about to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

The first thing Jongho felt was a slap. Not a hard one, it didn’t feel like the person was trying to hurt him but just helping him regain consciousness.

“You’re finally awake!”

Jongho hadn’t opened his eyes but he did hear the voice clearly. It was low and joyful. As he opened his eyes, a faint pain in his stomach came back. At least it wasn’t as terrible as before.

He sat upright, his back protesting at the movement. He was tied. He was sitting on a chair with a thick rope all around him.

Jongho looked up and saw a mop of bright red hair, the owner of that hair being tall dude.

“Who are you?” he said, managing to make his voice at least louder than a whisper.

“I can’t tell you my name or talk to you too much. It makes two people get attached and we’re going to kill you, so I can’t be too fond of you.”

“Well, I need someone to miss me when I die so…I’m Choi Jongho”

The man chuckled “I know that”

Jongho tried to move, he was uncomfortable and every bone in his body felt like it was broken, his limbs numb from the lack of movement. He sighed, giving up and stared at the dude. He looked young, couldn’t be much older than Jongho.

“Tell me about my father. I don’t know much about him”

“He killed one of us last month. We were planning on what to do to hurt him. Luckily, you exist.”

Jongho hummed “I think this is a huge mistake. I don’t know my father, never even met him…there’s no way he cares about me enough for him to be saddened by my death.”

“You should tell that to Se- to our leader. He’s trying to locate your father right now, searching for a way to let him know we have you. His only son.”

Jongho sighed, tired and only nodded “hope you find him. It would be good to meet him.”

He was still feeling ill and now there was a bunch of men in black looking for his father to let him now they would kill Jongho?

Bullshit. His life was horseshit. Was chicken shit. Was drunk human’s shit. It stank. It sucked.

“Why aren’t you begging for your life?”

The man sat in front of him on the floor, curiously staring at him.

Why wasn’t Jongho begging?

“Look, this may sound like something every emo kid would say but…there’s no life to beg for. I’ve spent every day thinking every aspect of my existence is so boring, so miserable that I…well, I don’t know if I don’t care. It’s just…do I want to go back to my own misery or do I prefer to die? That’s a question I can’t find the answer for.”

“Wow” the man chuckled, clearly entertained “you’re so full of your own shit, man. You can’t look at me in the eye and say that you wouldn’t miss something if you died right now.”

Jongho laughed a bit, because the man was right.

“I would…of course I would.”

The man’s face was rather round and his smile was cheeky, like a kid who just did something bad, like a man that was disrespectful and just overall annoying but charming in his own way. He looked friendly enough for Jongho to silently wish they could be friends.

If just the circumstances were different. If only they could meet without Jongho being tied and him not being able to say his own name.

Jongho sighed and continued speaking “I would miss…Rucia”

“The country?”

“That’s Russia, dummy. I said Rucia.”

“Fuck you, it sounds the same to me”

Jongho rolled his eyes “Rucia, with a ‘c’. That’s a dog I visit every day at the shelter. I love her.”

The man hummed, nodding slowly but didn’t say anything.

“Do you know what her name means in Spanish?”

“I- no? do you know Spanish?” asked the man, looking confused an amazed.

“Púdrete, cabrón” the man squealed excitedly “don’t get too hyped, I only know those words because I had a Mexican neighbor who would say that to me every day. I’m pretty sure they are not very nice words- “

“That’s still so cool!”

Jongho chuckled “anyway. Rucia’s name means ‘blonde’ in…chile, I think. She’s a mixed dog. Very small, playful and sweet. I love her.”

“Chile…isn’t that chilli? Like…chilli sauce, you know? That’s a country? What the hell?”

Jongho would’ve facepalmed if his hands weren’t tied.

“You really like to pretend you’re dumb, right?”

“They do say I’m not ‘pretending’…”

“But…you’re probably the friendly one, aren’t you?”

“Well, they call it stupidity, so…thank you, I guess”

Poor puppy looking man. Jongho felt a little sorry for him, maybe he should get better friends.

“Let’s be friends, even if I don’t know your name. I think you’re cool.”

Something about the man’s face changed. His eyes shone and his smile widened. Or maybe Jongho was just seeing things.

“I think you’re cool, too!”

The man was slightly childish, so lively that Jongho thought that he should find the man annoying but instead Jongho found him to be…refreshing, someone so different from the people he was around every day.

“But…how can we be friends if you don’t know my name?”

“You could…tell me your nickname?”

“Oh, in that case…it’s Princess” he mumbled, looking up at the ceiling and avoiding looking at Jongho.

Jongho nodded once “Okay, got it”

The man- Princess, met his eyes shily and smiled faintly. Jongho smiled right back, trying to let Princess know that he wouldn’t make fun of him for having that nickname.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dancing like butterfly wings makes me so happy man y'all wouldn't believe the amount of times that song has put me in the best mood.
> 
> Yall remember to take care and for those of you who are quarantined with a toxic family, it fucking sucks. I know that. But hang in there, you're strong.

Jongho was blindfolded and in pain.

The man that looked like Satan had, at some point that night, gotten into the room where Jongho was.

Apparently, he had nothing better to do than to beat Jongho up.

Princess had stayed with him almost all day, he fed Jongho and put the handcuffs on his wrists when he had asked to go to the bathroom.

Princess had asked him to not to try to escape, because it would get him in big trouble and Jongho hadn’t. He did think about escaping but didn’t. Jongho didn’t want princess to have problems with the leader.

They had talked for hours. Now, Jongho knew that his biological father had killed the former leader. A man Princess described as a determinate, sharp, anger filled man. He did use the words tiny, soft and affectionate, too. Princess had told him that this man, this unique leader, had been like a father to many members of their team. Including himself.

Jongho had apologized on behalf of a man he didn’t know and he knew it didn’t make any sense, but Princess looked heartbroken and Jongho just felt like he owed him an apology.

He had tried to apologize to Satan, too but the man was blinded by the loss of their leader. Jongho saw the anger, the sadness in his eyes before he was blindfolded.

Why. Why was this man hurting him? Jongho wasn’t lying when he told him he didn’t know where his father was. Didn’t even know what the man looked like.

“Do you even know the amount of rage I’ve got inside of me?”

Jongho shook his head quickly. A hand went up to his hair, tugging at it painfully.

“And I can’t take it out on that man. Your father. So, I’ve got to do it on the closest thing to him... and that is you”

Jongho could taste his own blood and was getting a bit lightheaded.

“Besides, he needs proof of your suffering. He needs to see you covered in bruises, he needs to feel desperate and scared, just to watch you die.”

Jongho was sleepy and tired of telling that man that his father wouldn’t feel any type of concern, wouldn’t bat an eye if he saw anyone put a bullet in Jongho’s skull.

“Seems like your only sin was to be that man’s son…” the man mumbled lowly, face close to Jongho’s “I am not sorry but know that this isn’t your fault or ours. If you want to hate someone, hate your father.”

Satan’s fist collided with Jongho’s jaw once again.

-

Princess sighed yet again. Concern visible in his eyes, that were softer than ever as he cleaned Jongho’s face.

“Our leader said he probably won’t beat you up again. He was angry and slightly drunk…” Princess finished cleaning Jongho’s face and moved on to his hands “he and our former leader had…kind of a special relationship, if you get what I mean”

“They were lovers? Your current leader doesn’t look like someone who’s capable of loving-”

“He is. He loves all of us. He’s harsh sometimes, let’s his rage guide him majority of the time and he can be cold but…yeah, he is capable of loving.”

Princess sounded slightly offended, defensive. He was defending Satan. Jongho decided that he should think harder about what he said about that man. He didn’t want Princess to get mad at him.

“In that case…it makes sense that he’s so angry. I would be angry if someone killed my lover.”

Princess hummed and helped Jongho sit on the floor, where Satan had left him and where he stayed the whole night.

“Do you have a lover?”

Jongho shook his head, feeling tempted to laugh his ass off. A lover? Choi Jongho having a lover?

Please, he gave his first kiss when he was twenty two and it was to a dude he ended up punching because Jongho had told him to stop fucking touching him and the dude hadn’t.

“I don’t, either…do you ever think about what it would feel like?”

“No, not really”

Jongho was always too busy pitying himself to think about the possibility of liking someone or someone liking him.

“Well, I do.”

Princess smiled dreamily.

Jongho could see right through him. Princess was thinking of someone to love, someone who loved all of him, even if everyone thought he was stupid.

“They have to like me even if I’m really clingy, they need to accept the fact that I kill people sometimes. Do you…do you think I’ll find someone like that someday?”

“There are more than seven billion people in his planet, Princess. You’ll find someone like that.” Jongho laughed, greatly surprised by the words his brain was just done processing “also, have you ever even killed? I don’t think you’re capable of hurting anyone”

“I have! Do you think they just let me join a team of hitmen without having my own set of skills and body count?”

Princess was always honest with Jongho when he could, so Jongho didn't have many reasons to not to believe him.

“It’s just so hard to picture you killing someone”

“Good, don’t do it. I don’t want you to fear me.”

-

It was hard to pee handcuffed.

But it was harder to comprehend why it was so hard to swallow, why was that intense emotion invading in the worst of times. He had just wanted to pee but he had overheard Princess and other person talking.

“You shouldn’t trust him this much, Mingi. He’s Park Jongin’s son. Do I have to remind you who that man is?”

“You don’t have to, San. I know he’s some mafia boss and that he killed Joong, I fucking know that but…Choi Jongho is different and I believe him. He isn’t to blame for this man’s wrongdoings- “

“You’re so damn stupid, Mingi.”

Jongho washed his hands with a heavy heart. Princess (whose real name was Mingi, apparently) was the closest thing to a friend Jongho ever had.

When he opened the door, Princess was there waiting for him, smiling despite having a little dispute with this other dude. He still smiled, even if Jongho was the reason they were fighting.

“Let’s go. Our leader said that if he sees your face, he’s going to cut your fingers off”

Jongho only nodded and followed Mingi.

_Mingi._

It was strange to know his name after calling him Princess for so long. _Mingi_. It did make Jongho feel a little bit closer to his friend.

Jongho got into the room and sat on the floor with a sigh. Mingi shut the door.

“I uh- I overheard you talking with your friend, Mingi”

“You…weren’t supposed to hear that”

“Thank you for trusting me. I appreciate it, Mingi”

“Stop saying my name. You’re weren’t supposed to know it”

How could Jongho stop saying it? It fit his friend and, it’s not that he was friends with Mingi just because of this, but he would like to have someone miss him when Satan killed him. He hoped Mingi was getting fond of him enough to miss him.

You’re not dead when you stop breathing, you’re dead if no one remembers you. That was what his asshole co-worker had said one day and Jongho found that to be the only thing they agreed on.

Jongho wasn’t sure that he had people to remember him, to miss his presence when he was gone. Mingi was sort of his last resort.

Jongho surprised himself with his need to be remembered.

“This San dude…I- don’t ever think of yourself as stupid. Trusting people isn’t stupid.”

Mingi sighed and sat in front of him “you know…it has been almost six weeks since you got here and we haven’t found Park Jongin. It’s like he vanished. Seonghwa is rapidly losing his mind”

“Oh, we’re using names now?”

Mingi laughed loudly “there’s no reason for me to be so cryptic. I trust you.”

Mingi told Jongho how he grew up with Hongjoong, their former leader, how the death of this man had nearly destroyed their team and how the only thing keeping them from falling apart was their need of revenge. He told Jongho about his abusive dad and about finding a better father figure in Hongjoong’s dad, who taught him how to use a gun at thirteen years old.

It was the most Mingi had ever talked about himself and Jongho was loving every second of it. He loved to hear Mingi’s voice.

Jongho didn’t know what love was supposed to feel like, but maybe that was what he was feeling in that moment.


	5. Chapter 5

Jongho had always dreaded a routine. He hated doing the same things every day but, at the same time, couldn’t bring himself to make a change.

With Mingi, doing the same things somehow felt good.

It felt good to hear his laugh for the millionth time that day, it felt good to talk to him about the same things over and over. Jongho didn’t even mind hearing the same lame jokes every day. He still laughed, intently looking at Mingi’s face.

Mingi’s eyes disappeared with the intensity of his joy, he showed almost all of his teeth and his laugh was loud and obnoxious. Jongho loved to see him smile.

“And so, I’d like to be able to afford a bigger place, adopt Rucia and raise her there. I would take her on walks on a daily and give her all my love” he said for the third time that week.

“Ah, I’m so jealous”

Wait, what? That had not been Mingi’s response the other two times.

“Why would you, dummy”

“Because she’ll get all your love”

Jongho choked a bit on his own saliva and felt his face grow hotter.

“What will it be left for the rest of us?”

Jongho cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with the other “well…I- we can- “

He stopped talking, he didn’t want to ruin his friendship with Mingi. What if he was just misunderstanding the situation?

Mingi let out a little sigh, still smiling despite the clear sadness in his eyes.

“They will kill you nonetheless. Seonghwa said that even if we never find Park Jongin, he will take his revenge”

“I like you, Mingi”

“Why this sudden confession?”

“You just told me I’m going to die. I might as well just ruin our friendship.”

Mingi laughed quietly. Those laughs that made his shoulders shake slightly as he covered his mouth. They were cute. Mingi was cute.

“I like you, too. You aren’t ruining anything”

The door of the room opened and Seonghwa walked in. That was it. Jongho saw murder in his eyes.

As he was lifted off the ground and dragged out of the room, he looked back to see two men holding Mingi back.

Jongho felt desperate now. He missed Rucia, he missed taking walks on the park, the short showers, the joy he felt when he was in the mood to sing, he missed Mingi.

He wanted to live.

“Mingi, the shelter is called Little Paw! It’s next to a McDonalds and the owner always complains about the smell of food making the puppies crazy! Visit Rucia for me!”

Everyone’s face showed nothing but shock and Seonghwa shook him by the arm, dragging him further away from his only friend. There was so much he still wanted to tell Mingi.

Jongho wanted to live.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to get this out my system dude I'm not blame here u.u
> 
> I was going to say bunch of stuff but I forgot. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow if I remember lmao
> 
> This was fun, tho :)
> 
> Yall what the fuck I forgot to upload this on anon. This is embarrassing and awkward lmao
> 
> Also: I meant to say that I had a dream where jongho sang the acoustic version of touch it by ariana grande and the thought doesn't leave my brain ever since.
> 
> Good night.

Jongho felt half dead already.

He was pretty sure every bone in his body was broken, he couldn’t move and Seonghwa had even shot him on his legs to keep him from struggling so much.

He heard the faint sound of a phone ringing. Maybe he was just making things up at that point. Through swollen eyes, he saw Seonghwa wipe his bloody hands off with a towel and take his phone out of his pocket.

The leader stared at the screen of his phone in disbelief for a couple of seconds. Jongho wondered what could have gotten the man like that.

Jongho felt like passing out that second, the last things in his mind being Rucia, Mingi and the future he always hoped for.

-

Jongho spent his birthday in the hospital.

The good thing was that he was alive, the not so good was that the nurse had told him they found him outside the hospital, bleeding out, alone.

Jongho didn’t know why they had decided to let him go after weeks of having him in a room.

No one visited him at the hospital, not even his mom. The nurse had told him that they called her to tell her about her son’s state. She never showed up, not once in the four months he spent in that hospital room.

The doctor gave him some medicine for the pain so deeply rooted within him and sent him home. Jongho had gone to the coffee shop and found out he had been fired. What was he seriously expecting? He had not showed up in months. Then, he went to the bank, got a little bit of money and paid his bills and the rent of his apartment.

The strange thing was that he still had enough money to spend a lifetime lazing around.

Jongho laid down on his dusty bed and fell asleep, gladly leaving the curtains open.

He needed some of the old times to come back, he needed his routine.

-

Jongho sometimes wondered what had happened to Mingi and the others.

A year had passed in a blink, especially since Jongho had decided to move in to a better part of the city, to a bigger house. Everything had changed.

He had bought a house and immediately adopted Rucia. She had a bunch of toys, her own bed and loads of food.

She was a little spoiled monster.

He had gotten a job even if he still had money, because if he spent another day doing nothing, he was going to lose his mind.

Jongho was cleaning the bathrooms at a bar and, somewhere in his first month working there, his boss had found him singing while he tried to clean vomit off the floor and now let him perform twice a week.

Jongho thought that he still had to improve but, god, it felt good to sing. Maybe singing was what he was born to do.

Overall, Jongho decided that he couldn’t be happier if he tried. He needed friends, admittedly and Jongho was trying his best to open up to people.

Sometimes, he liked to think Mingi missed him. Jongho sure missed the red haired dude. The sole thought of Mingi always brough a smile to his face, because Jongho had nothing but happy memories with his friend. His heart filled with nothing but longing and a little bit of Mingi's playful fondness.

Jongho liked to think Mingi was okay.

He threw himself to his giant bed and let Rucia lie next to him, even if she had her own bed. She never used it, anyway.

Jongho had taken a warm bath, and had pizza delivered to his house because now he could afford it. He ate it all by himself and went to bed, his stomach hurting slightly.

Jesus, he should really stop thinking food was going to grow legs and run away from him.

Jongho slept without a worry.

And he was woken up by screams and Rucia’s barks.

He saw a tall shadow running around his room, being chased by his tiny dog.

Jongho could feel his breath stutter and his heart skip multiple beats. If he ever saw Satan’s eyes again, he was going to pee himself and cry.

He slowly reached the lamp on his nightstand and turned it on, faintly illuminating his room.

“Rucia, stop- girl, come here”

He patted the mattress and she obeyed right away, jumping to his bed and sitting on his legs, still barking to the person in the dark.

Just looking at the man, Jongho could tell who he was. Not Satan, thankfully.

No, it was someone a lot friendlier, someone who smiled a lot more.

Mingi took off the black hat, letting Jongho see the faded orange hair and the faint smile on his lips. His eyes, that held an apology.

“What a way to see each other again”

Mingi chuckled “we met in a very unconventional way; it was only fitting for us to be reunited like this”

“Breaking into my house, Mingi? Really?”

Despite the accusation, Jongho hoped that Mingi noticed how glad he truly was of being able to see his smile again.

They talked as if nothing had changed, except that Rucia would growl at Mingi every time he tried to get too close to Jongho and did Jongho ever expect his tiny dog to cock block him? No, not at all.

Apparently, Hongjoong was alive. He had just been hurt during their attempt at killing Park Jongin, incapable of communicating.

He had saved Jongho’s life with just a call. Mingi had begged Seonghwa to get Jongho to a hospital and had gone to visit him once, but Jongho was unconscious.

Seonghwa still couldn’t forgive the leader for disappearing like that but they were getting there. Mingi expressed his wish for everything to go back to normal in their weird family.

“I’m sorry it took me this long to get my shit together. I just… I was barely over the fact that Hongjoong was back, we had many fights. We were about to fall apart, brotherhood set aside…we almost weren’t a family anymore and that…well, that was really becoming the end of me”

Jongho nodded in understanding. He could never shame Mingi when he knew now how difficult life was being for his friend.

Mingi smiled again, still lively and still slightly cheeky. Jongho smiled right back, because he couldn’t help it. Mingi made him happy.

“But we’re fine now and I thought, is there a better time to jump right back into this dude’s life?”

Mingi was leaning into his space slowly and Jongho was letting him. Whatever might happen, Jongho wanted it.

Their lips touched, warm and wet. It was all Jongho didn’t know he needed.

Rucia leapt at Mingi, biting his arm. Jongho gasped and Mingi moved away to try and get the tiny dog to stop biting him.

It was good while it lasted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: my dog's name is rucia and I love her with my whole existence.


End file.
